Barclays is to cut up to 1,200 jobs in a two-year reorganisation that will see the name of Woolwich disappear from the High Street.

Three call centres in Kent, Essex and Dudley in the West Midlands are to be shut and Woolwich branches will be re-branded as Barclays. Branches within 300 metres of each other will be merged.

“It’s a terrible day for this part of Essex,” said Clacton resident Jill Baines, who works at the Essex call centre.

“There is very little alternative employment worth the while around here and I may have to commute to London once the centre closes.”

Barclays intends to retain the Woolwich brand name for its mortgages.